Metromedia Producers Corporation/Summary
Background: Metromedia Producers Corporation (MPC) was established from Wolper Productions in 1968 after David L. Wolper broke apart from Metromedia (Wolper Productions was later relaunched in 1970). On March 6, 1986, Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation (now known as "21st Century Fox", current parent company of 20th Century Fox) acquired MPC and with it, the television stations owned by Metromedia for $3.5 billion. MPC was folded into 20th Century Fox Television, Metromedia Square (which was not included in the sale,instead beingleased to Fox/News Corp) became "Fox Television Center", and the former Metromedia owned television stations were incorporated as the Fox Television Stations in April. These programs are now distributed worldwide by 20th Television. Except for The Merv Griffin Show, which MPC handled co-production and distribution from 1972 to 1983, which was later transferred to King World Productions (now "CBS Television Distribution") and then Columbia Pictures Television (now "Sony Pictures Television") in 1986. 1st Logo (1969-1974) Nicknames: "MPC (of Doom)", "Puzzle Pieces from Hell" Logo: On a dark cyan, purple, blue, green or black background, the yellow, white, or orange words "METROMEDIA PRODUCERS CORPORATION" zoom up to the right. The letters "M", "P", and "C" fly from underneath in a flipping manner to the left, binding together to form the logo with "M" on top, "P" to the right, and "C" on the bottom. Variants: *There is an opening variant with the word "PRESENTS" would flip up under the logo. *An in-credit variant can be found on the game show Pay Cards!. FX/SFX: The words zooming, the letters flying, flipping, and binding. Cheesy Factor: The letters look like paper cutouts, and the flipping and binding effects are typical '70s animated effects. Music/Sounds: A very loud and dramatic five-note fanfare. In some cases, it used only the closing theme of the show or it's silent. Music/Sounds Variants: *There were two music variations for this, one with an extended version of the familiar theme (seen, for example, at the beginning of the 1971 TV movie The People), and on Tales of the Crypt, the logo uses a bombastic fanfare composed by Elmer Bernstein, which is actually the closing fanfare from David L. Wolper's documentary Four Days in November (1964). *Sometimes, a generic theme was used. One example is the 1979 Paramount Television theme heard instead on early-to-mid-1970s prints of That Girl, presumably because of an edition mistake. Availability: Extremely rare. Shows that used to have this logo are not seen much on video or in syndication. The logo survives on a few Alpha Video DVD prints of Dusty's Trail, DVD releases of Go Ask Alice, and on FX Movie Channel's prints of Honor Thy Father and It's Good to Be Alive. The opening variant is rare, and was originally seen on movies, such as Tales from the Crypt and Chosen Survivors. Was also seen on old prints of Chopper One, but it was got plastered by the Columbia Pictures Television logo on its DVD release. Scare Factor: Depending on the logo variant: *Original variant: Medium to high. The connecting letters and the unnerving music would make this logo a major fear factor for unsuspecting viewers. *Opening variant: Low to medium. *Silent opening variant / with the closing theme: Low. *In-credit variant: None. 2nd Logo (1973-1980) Nickname: "MPC II" Logo: Against a dark blue background, we see the shapes that resembles the "MPC" logo. Then it fills with a bright star into orange. The letters "METROMEDIA", "PRODUCERS", and "CORPORATION" fades one by one. Variants: *Sometimes, this logo appear on the ending credits and sometimes with "In association with" or "Distributed by" above it. *A closing variant of this logo appears on a light blue background with "Distributed by" above the logo. *On the 1980 miniseries Wild Times, it's just the words "Metromedia Producers Corporation" in a generic yellow font on a blue background. This is seen at the beginning of the first episode, and after the prologue on the second episode. An in-credit text (with Rattlesnake Productions) is shown at the end. FX/SFX: The filling of the logo and the letters appearing. In other cases, none or the scrolling of the credits. Cheesy Factor: Simple '70s animation. Music/Sounds: A string melody ending with a pizzicato note, closing theme of the show or TV movie, or silent. On some episodes of The Merv Griffin Show, it's music playing from any jazz musician. Music/Sounds/Voice-over Variant: On The Merv Griffin Show, an announcer (Arthur Teacher/Chet Gould) says "The Merv (Griffin) Show is a Merv Griffin Production, in association with Metromedia Producers Corporation. This program was recorded.". Availability: Extremely rare. The in-credit logos would remain intact on certain television films like Terror on the 40th Floor, nightly syndicated The Merv Griffin Show, and game shows like The Cross-Wits. Recently, the in-credit version has been sighted on the Where Have All the People Gone? and Terror on the 40th Floor on FX Movie Channel. It may also show up on other Metromedia TV movies from this era when FXMC airs them. The distribution variant popped up on a 1980 episode of Charlie's Angels on Cozi TV, followed by the Sony Pictures Television logo. The Wild Times variant is seen on Encore Westerns airings of the miniseries. The distribution variant might appeared on earlier prints of Aaron Spelling/Douglas S. Cramer productions, such as Vega$ and the TV movie The Users. Scare Factor: Depending on the logo variant: *Minimal. It seems tamer than its predecessor. *None for most superimposed and in-credit variants. But the scare factor may vary depending on the ending theme, and the background. For instance, high to nightmare for the variant seen on The Norliss Tapes, due to the dramatic music. 3rd Logo (1981) Nickname: "Wiping Lines" Logo: On a blue background, we see four yellow lines wiping, the one of the top and the second of the middle wipes from right to left, and the second and fourth line wipes from left to right, all in order. Then, the letters "DISTRIBUTED BY" appears on the top, under the first line, appears "METROMEDIA" (in larger), between the second and the third line, appears "PRODUCERS", and between the third and forth line, appears "CORPORATION". Variants: *There is a variant that has "PRODUCED BY" above the text. *An in-credit variant can be seen on the game show Super Pay Cards!. FX/SFX: The lines wiping. Cheesy Factor: Very simple '80s animation. Music/Sounds: None. Availability: Extremely rare. The logo only appeared on a few TV movies from the era, and syndie prints of most Aaron Spelling (including the Spelling-Goldberg ones) shows and TV movies during the time frame. One example was the pilot episode of Dynasty, which haven't been seen in years. Scare Factor: None to low. 4th Logo (1982-1987) Nickname: "The Rainbow-M Ribbon" Logo: On a black background, a rainbow-colored ribbon wipes onscreen and folds into a cursive "M". The texts "Produced By" or "Distributed By" appear superimposed above the logo and "METROMEDIA PRODUCERS" below with a line separating in between the names. Variants: *There is a variant that has "VIDEO PRODUCTIONS, INC." below the word "METROMEDIA" with a line on top, in between, and below. *On the season 3 Small Wonder episode "Whodunit?", the text below the logo says "MPC VIDEO PRODUCTIONS, INC.", with a trademark symbol over it. FX/SFX: The ribbon wiping and twisting into the "M". As the logo twists it changes its color. It shines on the edges once the logo formed. Cheesy Factor: Simple animation, but effective. Also, when the M is forming, it is facing the southwest but after the flash, it changes to face the northeast. Music/Sounds: A majestic string fanfare. Sometimes, it's silent or has the end theme from the show. Availability: Extremely rare, bordering on extinct. The programs on which this logo appeared haven't been seen in years. The Metromedia Video Productions version appeared on the first and second seasons of Small Wonder (but was plastered with the 1981 TCFTV logo on repeats from 1986 on), but it's currently on the Shout! Factory's DVD on the remainder episodes and on Antenna TV's airings in early 2015. Some episodes of the DVD releases contains the 1992 20th Television logo while Antenna TV's prints had the current 20th TV logo follow this logo. The Metromedia Producers version is intact on FX Movie Channel's print of Hitler's S.S.: Portrait in Evil whenever aired, but blacked out on DVD prints of the said movie; and some syndie episodes of Movin' On on Retro TV. The MPC Video Productions variant is preserved on airings of the aforementioned episode on Antenna TV. It's also seen on B.A.D. Cats and Strike Force, among other shows that contain the logo. Scare Factor: Minimal.